The Shift With Music in the Digital Age

So many changes have happened over the years in the music industry. The way fans are able to listen to music going from 8 tracks, to cassettes, to cd’s, and now mp3’s. With the progression of technology came the progression of the way music is presented to the masses. The change in technology has also changed the way music is produced from analog to digital.

Consumers can buy music instantly from sites like iTunes and Amazon, no longer do they have to wait in line at a record store for a new album release. With streaming applications like Pandora, Rhapsody, and Spotify fans can stream their favorite music for free with advertisements or pay a monthly fee for advertisement free music streaming. Social media has brought the artist and the fan closer with instant responses and reactions to their music or any current events.

Buy with the new digital age has the relationship between fan and artist been watered down. Many fans will stand in line for hours for the new album of their favorite artist and that showed their loyalty.  Yes artists can reach their fans faster and easier but that also includes their music as well. With the changes in technology came the new laws and new ways of doing business in the industry.  Making sure the artist is still making money off of their work no matter how it was sold.

Spotify and Artist Royalties

A big concern for any artist is making sure that they get paid for their music. With the change in the music industry and artist marketing an artist and labels have to think about the best way to distribute the music.

Since with Spotify an artist does not get paid when someone purchases a song but for how many times the song gets played. Fans are able to share their playlist with friend as well as suggest songs to friends. There are also featured artist and albums that listeners can choose from.

Now an artist would definitely want to become a featured artist because that will help to increase how many times their songs are played. Even if a listener is not a fan of the artist or never heard their music they are more likely to become curious and play their songs to find out the reason for the artist music to be featured. So of course bigger artist with major label backing with more than likely become a featured artist than an underground artist.

Underground artist need to make sure they have a good management and marketing team to ensure that they become visible to a larger fan base. This will increase the amount of plays and increase their royalty revenue.

New Trends in the Music Industry

The music industry is heading in a better direction for artists and selling their music. File sharing has lost its popularity with the crack down on a lot of those sites. Fans are still getting music digitally but instead of free downloads they are purchasing music from sites like iTunes.

The way an artist earns revenue from album sales have change drastically. Instead of traditional album sales, large portions of sales are from digital tracks and music streaming. With the digital age growing and fans having access to music apps on their smartphones or tablets, you will find fans streaming music from online radio stations as well as online streaming apps.

Artist are taking advantage of YouTube and social media to build their fan base and record sales. YouTube is a platform for new artist trying to create a buzz about themselves and their music.

Fans are looking toward online radio stations to listen to music. They are also using programs like Pandora and Spotify to stream music. You can listen to your favorite songs anytime you want and share it with your friends. The change in technology has brought about a change in the music industry, no longer are labels controlling everything. Slowly but surely through these new trends an artist is gaining more control.